Marco Silva has praised his Fulham side after they marked their return to the Premier League with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool.
On the back of winning last season's Championship title, the Cottagers were provided with one of the toughest games possible against a team who defeated Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend.
However, Fulham raised their game from the opening whistle against the 2021-22 runners-up, initially taking the lead through a towering header from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Liverpool equalised against the run of play through a fortuitous goal from Darwin Nunez, but Mitrovic soon netted his second from the penalty spot after being upended by Virgil van Dijk.
The West Londoners appeared to be on their way to one of their most notable victories in recent memory until a smart finish from Mohamed Salah 10 minutes from time earned Liverpool a share of the spoils.
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Given the level of their performance, Silva will feel a sense of disappointment with failing to collect three points, but the Portuguese was quick to praise his players after the full-time whistle.
Speaking to BT Sport, Silva said: "We have to respect the top, top quality that they have. They have shown that one season ago, two seasons ago. We respect them, but of course, we have to do our job. To trust ourselves, to stick to the plan, and we showed fantastic organisation from the start to the end of the match.
"We did a great first half, almost perfect the way we controlled and blocked the quality that they have. Second half, we matched them every time."
Although Mitrovic scored a sensational 43 goals in the Championship last season, the Serbian had only previously netted 24 strikes in 104 Premier League appearances before Saturday's fixture.
Nevertheless, Silva acknowledged that he has full faith in the experienced frontman, who is already just one goal short of the three efforts which came from 27 outings in 2020-21.
Silva added: "I know the quality that Mitrovic has and I'm here to take the best from my players, Mitrovic is not just goals, he puts on the constant pressure and the overall job he did is fantastic."
Fulham are next in action when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on August 13.
Darren Plant
